Lauren Appelbaum

“I’m going to tell you two completely contradictory ideas, and I want you to understand that I believe both of them with every fiber of my being.” So said Rabbi Daniel Gordis, the popular, American-born Israeli educator and author, attempting to explain the divisions in Israeli society to a rapt audience of 50-odd New Yorkers

This fall, as happens every fall, students in Hebrew schools around the country will begin their confirmation studies. But at Old York Road Temple Beth Am, this year will be a little different. Next spring, when the confirmation class conducts the service on Shavuot, five students with physical, cognitive and verbal disabilities will